How to add Ric Rac: Tip #1 {Tutorial}

Ric rac. I just love to hear the words ric rac. It's so fun to say out-loud or just in my head. It's one of my favorite embellishments to use when designing kids clothes. I probably use it too much actually. But I'd like to think there is always room for more ric rac in everyday life. I often look at things and think "wouldn't that be even cuter with some ric rac?"

You might think this too simple, but I've been wanting to write up a tutorial on how I sandwich ric rac quick and easy and just haven't needed to do it for a while. So, I'm starting with just showing you how I add it to a hem. So humor me, someone out there may appreciate this and it may just save them the extra step of figuring it out themselves.

First, choose the size of ric rac you need for your project. I tend to use jumbo for edging skirts and dresses and medium on something smaller like a sleeve or neck opening. You can find ric rac at JoAnn fabrics, usually on the backside of their thread display. But recently Amy and I discovered that Wal-Mart also carries some of the basic colors and sizes at the same price you'd pay at JoAnn, if you had a 40% off coupon. Have you noticed that ric rac at JoAnn NEVER goes on sale! If it did, I think I'd buy out the entire display, so maybe that's a good thing. You can also buy every color and size imaginable from The Ribbon Retreat.

Yesterday I added ric rac to the bottom of a top I made.

And here is how I did it.

First I ironed the hem up by 3/4". Then opened that and ironed up the edge by 1/4" so the final hem will be 1/2".

Now open up those creases and lay the ric rac down on the first crease you ironed. The 3/4" line. Lay it down so that the crease site just above each indentation.

Remember to heat seal the beginning and end of the ric rac. Once you've sewn all the way around, re-iron those creases.

And you are ready to stitch your hem. You shouldn't need any pins to hold it flat. With sharp creases and the right amount of pull/pressure, you should be able to just zip around the hem. You'll stitch it with the underside up of course so you can see where to sew.

Here's a sneak peek at my finished top.